Archive for May, 2010

Beta test for 1.5 has started

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

We proudly announce the launch of the release 1.5 public beta-test! All data from existing game world nicosia have been converted to this new server and release. This means – if you already have an account and airline on nicosia, you will find your airline on the test-server too.

Your way to the public beta-test: http://stapleton.airlinesim.aero

And of course some faq regarding the beta-test:

1.) How long is the public beta-test intended to last?
We’re planing a beta-test period of three weeks. Due to maybe found errors or problems it might be shorter or even longer.

2.) Is there any tutorial for the new release?
No, not at the moment.All wiki-pages are still based on the 1.3 release. But we’re working on it!

3.) Why can’t I find my fleet, flights etc.?
There is no difference between holdings and enterprises anymore. Therefor your current company selection might be the former holding, where is no airline business. Simply change the company/enterprise on the header bar.

4.) Why are all booked flights (flight instances) deleted?
Due to the conversion of the release 1.3 data to 1.5 all booked flights have to be cancelled. The system is now starting like the flights would have been all new. This is also necessary for the new flight rating system.

5.) Does the system books passengers and freight like in release 1.3?
No, the flight-rating system is completely new. Therefor you should avoid to high prices and reduce them to a “normal” scale. Flights with 200% prices might not be booked.

6.) May I delete a former holding?
Every company/enterprise – also the former holding may be deleted. But by deleting an enterprise you may also delete subsidiaries where this enterprise is a major stakeholder.

7.) Do I have to pay for the beta test?
No – the public beta test doesn’t cost you any credits. But you have to register an account and your account mustn’t have a negative credit balance.

8.) Where to report bugs or errors?
Like any error or bug – simply send us an e-mail to support@airlinesim.aero – please don’t forget to mention the server (Stapleton) and enterprise.

9.) Is there any “known-bugs” overview?
Not at the moment. But we will provide one.

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Posted in News | 1 Comment »

AirlineSim 1.5 Beta test to start this week

Monday, May 10th, 2010

We are currently planning to launch a public beta test of our new version 1.5 later this week. Although there is no exact date yet, here are some early bits of information you might be interested in.

The first and most important part of the test is the “patching process”. To test this we will use current live data from Nicosia, install it on the public test-server and upgrade it to the new version 1.5. After the upgrade, the simulation will continue running as it did before but with the new flight rating system (FRS) in action. As all existing flight instances will be deleted in the process, airlines will miss about 3 to 4 days of bookings and a considerable part of flight operations. All newly created flight instances will be rated by the new flight rating system, so the new ratings will be a lot more price-sensitive even in no-competition scenarios. If you manage an airline on Nicosia and want to take full advantage of the testing we recommend you save up some money and set all your flights to standard prices (you should be fine if you operate below default prices already) to avoid going bankrupt.

After the test has been started we intend to run it for at least two to three weeks. Getting over the disturbance brought about by the patch is expected to take airlines about a week alone and we calculate about another week for the FRS to catch on. Consequently everybody should have quite a good idea about the effects of the upgrade after three weeks.

During the Beta test we will operate a special board on the forums for you to post your ideas, feedback and possible issues. We will continuously update the test world and fix bugs as they appear. As soon as we think that the new version is ready for a release, the test world will be resetted and made the first regular 1.5 game. The updates for existing servers will follow shortly after, given that no unforseen problems prevent it.

Please excuse the fact that we can only use the live data from one game world, giving a slight advantage to those playing on Nicosia. We decided that a test would only make sense in a saturated market and we cannot afford to run more then one free server at a time (testing the Beta will not cost you any credits!).

More information on the test will be posted as they become available. We recommend you follow us on either Facebook, Twitter or both for smaller updates not worthy of a blog post.

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Posted in News, Technical Updates | 1 Comment »

Video time! The new AS 1.5 interface

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

It’s been a while since we released a video about the upcoming AirlineSim 1.5. So here it is, the third video in a series about the features and improvements the new version will introduce. This time we focused on an in-depth introduction to the completely revised interface of the game. But see for yourself!

As usual, we recommend to watch the video directly over at Vimeo for better quality and larger screen size.

Some words on the content for the impatient: The new interface was redesigned with three key goals in mind. Firstly we wanted to slim down the header and the navigation to require less space. AS is a highly complex airline simulation and as such we need as much space for actual content like large tables or charts as possible. Secondly we wanted to improve usability and generall accessibility of the main features and places within the game. The icon-based navigation now looks a lot less cluttered and the sorting by topic makes it easier to find the feature you are looking for quickly. Last but not least we wanted to bring the visual design up to current standards worthy of a modern, web-based management game.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the changes and we look forward to your feedback! In the meantime we are hard at work to open AirlineSim 1.5 for a public Beta some time around next week. So stay tuned!

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Posted in From the Hangar | 3 Comments »

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